World Trade Fair postponed to next year

Owing to the serious consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, event organiser Reed Exhibitions has announced the postponement of the Aluminium World Trade Fair to May 18 to 20, 2021.

The trade fair was scheduled to take place in Düsseldorf, Germany from October 6 to 8, this year.

The accompanying aluminium conference will also be postponed until next year. Every two years, the trade fair brings 1 000 exhibitors and about 23 000 visitors from 100 countries to Düsseldorf.

The decision was made after numerous discussions with the industry and partners, who were all in favour of postponing the fair. The aluminium industry as well as international supply chains have been hit hard by the pandemic and the lockdown, states the organiser.

“Together with exhibitors and partners, we had long hoped to be able to get the industry back on track for October. Unfortunately, this hope has not been fulfilled. The vast majority of exhibitors have therefore expressed the wish that the trade fair should be rescheduled to next year,” says Reed Exhibitions Deutschland MD Michael Freter.

“In collaboration with everyone, we have agreed that by postponing the trade fair to 2021, we can offer the industry the best customer benefits and the best conditions for a successful event at that time.”

Meanwhile, with the pandemic outbreak, demand for aluminium has fallen, in some cases massively, according to the German association Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie e.V. (GDA).

Importantly, demand from the main application industries, such as automotive and aviation, in new orders and call-offs fell sharply and, in some cases, came to a complete standstill, GDA adds.

GDA is the supporting association of the Aluminium World Trade Fair.

“The decision to move the event to May is absolutely the right one. The markets for aluminium have collapsed on a broad front. I do not yet see any recovery at present,” says GDA MD Marius Baader.

He adds that the aluminium industry is currently focused on securing business and employment.

“Our materials and products are the solutions to the challenges of the present and the future. Sustainable mobility, energy efficient buildings, closed loop, we offer all of this. Nevertheless, at the moment the focus is on stabilising the economy.”

Baader notes that May 2021 is the right time for when the event can provide the important impulse for a new start.

This is also underlined by European aluminium industry association director-general Dr Gerd Goetz, who points out that the current focus of the European Union and its member States is on sustainable economic measures to overcome the crisis.

He adds that the aluminium industry can play a key role in the realisation of a green European action plan. Therefore, the event is important for the industry – especially next year, when the situation in the application industries will hopefully have eased again.